Mellow Mummy: Britax VERSAFIX Group 1 Car Seat Review : Taking life as it comes...

Sunday 30 December 2012

Britax VERSAFIX Group 1 Car Seat Review

It is great to see a new car seat on the market that is as versatile as real parents need it to be – the demands of a busy growing family aren't easily met but the VERSAFIX is designed to make life that little bit easier.




The VERSAFIX is ideally suited for families like me who quite often need to move the seat between several different vehicles. In the past few months both sets of grandparents have taken their turns to look after my daughters during the day and I can tell you it is pretty stressful trying to move some car seats between our own car which has ISOFIX mountings, and into their cars, which don't. The VERSAFIX makes this process less stressful because it is suitable for use in cars with or without ISOFIX.

You can also use the VERSAFIX with the TopTether ISOFIX fastening if you have it in your car. Right now, we don't have TopTether but the VERSAFIX will grow with your child so, should you buy a new car in the future that does have TopTether fastenings, you won't need to replace the seat – yay! The ISOFIX clips on the VERSAFIX are tucked away when not in use to help protect your car if you aren't planning on using them.

My two girls are on either end of the Group 1 car seat spectrum. My youngest is a little over 9kg and within the next couple of months she will be moving into a forward facing Group 1 car seat such as the new Britax VERSAFIX; my eldest is 3 and a half years old, 18kg and in all likelihood will be moving on into a Group 2,3 car seat to make space for her little sister. I have tried both of my girls in the new VERSAFIX and was impressed at how easy it was to adjust the seat to their two totally different shapes.

The shoulder straps on the VERSAFIX move up and down using a simple latch at the back of the seat so there was no need for me to undo and re-thread the straps when changing the seat for my two girls – phew! Like all Britax seats, I found the process of fastening my children into the seat to be extremely easy because there are visible and audible indicators to tell you when you have done it right. The straps are really nicely padded which I think is important for a small baby just moving into a Group 1 car seat.

My eldest daughter is very tall for her age and there is no way to heighten the head supports on the VERSAFIX so this would encourage me to move her onto a Group 2,3 car seat sooner rather than later (ie. now). I love the fact that the ISOFIX connectors pack away so easily when I move the seat into a a friend or family member's car (and I can imagine this being handy when travelling by taxi too) but for me, the VERSAFIX is still too heavy and bulky to actively encourage me to move it between vehicles.

I liked the fact that there was a small recline facility on the VERSAFIX. Normally we don't need to recline the seat for our eldest daughter but this year we seem to have done a lot of long journeys (a 10 day, 2000 mile trip on one occasion!) and it is handy to be able to recline the seat just a tiny bit to make her more comfortable when she sleeps.

The VERSAFIX is a great all-round car seat that is suitable for lots of different cars and families.

Disclosure: I was sent a VERSAFIX sample to conduct my review.
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